Book Pieter-Dirk Uys for Your Function

If you can’t bring your group to Evita se Perron, book Pieter-Dirk Uys to come to you. He has a selection of 30-minute and 60-minute entertainments that focus on the realities of South African life and legends with humour.

“Uys dons false eyelashes and presidents listen”.
— Los Angeles Times

Pieter-Dirk Uys has been unemployed since 1975, when the government of the day banned his writings and made him a liability. Since then he has become his job, with the government, past and present, remaining his best scriptwriters. He has appeared alone on stage over 7,000 times, mainly focusing on unfunny and worrying subjects like inhumanity, racism, corruption and fear, and making them entertaining through humour, which is his weapon of mass distraction. Laughing at fear also helps make that fear less fearful – and so Uys’s balance of 49{8e5323caff772598f79904570968e898e591e926c647ac5867ba2b40038ca34f} anger / 51{8e5323caff772598f79904570968e898e591e926c647ac5867ba2b40038ca34f} entertainment has always been his magic potion of optimism.

Pieter-Dirk Uys has dozens of funny, hopeless, inspiring, infuriating, familiar and unique characters that travel with him and can enlighten the most cryptic questions of survival. He isn’t scared to voice his opinion, knowing that freedom of expression allows everyone to disagree as loudly. He also believes that without humour there can be no heaven. With his passion for fairness and respect, he will always side with the underdog and ridicule the fat cat, and being a gay Jewish Afrikaner with Congolese DNA, he belongs to some of the best chosen peoples in the universe.

Pieter-Dirk Uys’s unique entertainments, reflecting the issues of the day through the cracked mirror of satire, will make you laugh till you cry and then dry your tears with a smile.

Evita Bezuidenhout as Guest Speaker

These are some of the words used to describe Evita Bezuidenhout’s State of the Nation address to corporates, conferences, think tanks, indabas, award ceremonies and more. The most famous white woman in South Africa is focusing on the need to move from the fearful negative that has infected our society to optimistic hope and excitement for a successful future for all.

Evita Bezuidenhout has been in the lives of South Africans for the last thirty years. From her introduction in 1982 as the South African Ambassador to the Homeland of Bapetikosweti to her current position in the kitchens of Luthuli House as a respected member of the ANC, Mrs Bezuidenhout’s unique political perspective allows her to share many wisdoms with her audience. Focusing on women and the state of family values, she underlines the importance of remembering where we come from so we can celebrate where we are going. She uses humour and hope with respect and optimism to make her point: the people must lead and the government will follow.

Evita Bezuidenhout is probably the closest we have to a Queen Mother and because she does not use bad language or tasteless references, her audiences have grown to include citizens from all walks of life, from executives to trade unionists, reflecting the multi-cultures of South Africa, all united by a diverse and uncomplicated sense of humour. Jokes are funny. The truth can be even more outrageous. Confronting the complex and worrying realities of our maturing democracy with humour has proved to be enriching and enlightening. It is also great entertainment.

In English or Afrikaans, or bilingual with necessary nods in the direction of the other nine official languages, the presentation can be from 30 to 40 minutes long up to 60 minutes, divided into two sections to allow for a costume change and new jewellery. Experience has shown that Evita’s candid talk, set among other important speeches of substance but maybe not many laughs, creates a successful balance for an audience looking forward to being able to look forward with hope and optimism. And with humour.

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Pieter-Dirk Uys was born in Cape Town in 1945 and has been in the theatre since the mid-1960s. Closely associated with both the Space Theatre in Cape Town and Johannesburg's Market Theatre during the 1970s and 1980s, he has written and performed 20 plays and over 30 revues and one-man shows throughout South Africa and abroad.
He is a contributing author at the Daily Maverick.